Egg grading machine



Feb. 12, 1952 J. A. HILL 2,585,124

EGG GRADING MACHINE Filed Feb. 23, 1946 2 SHEETS-SHEET 1 jvvz/vropdas/w/q A. H/AL,

Feb. 12, 1952 J. A. HILL 2,585,124

EGG GRADING MACHINE f/v VE/V 70/? JOSHUA A. H/LL illv w llliliilnfm 40 WLa u 2.

5 4 5 40C FOR HEP/RM 4/ l0 4 TTOQ/VEXS Patented Feb. 12, 1952 UNHTEDSTATES ATENT OFFICE 2,585,124 EGG GRADING'EMACHINE J oshuaA.-Hill,,Canoga Park, Calif.

Application February 23, 1946; Serial No+649A89 9 Claims.

My invention relates in general to grading machinery or apparatus and,more specifically, to a machine which is particularly adapted forgrading ovoid or spherical articles aCcOIdiIlg to the weights thereof.The grading machine disclosed herein incorporates certain improvementson the grading machine disclosed in my copending application, Serial No.504,226, filed September 29, 1943, which has matured into Patent No.2,442,689, these improvements being, described in detail hereinafter.

The fundamental principles of my invention are particularly applicableto machinery or apparatus for grading eggs and will be described inconnection therewith for convenience in disclosing the invention,although it will be understood that these principles are equallyapplicable to machinery for grading various other articles and that I donot intend to be limited to the specific application disclosed herein.

The conventional practice in grading eggs for market is to separate theeggs into large, medium, and small sizes according to the weightsthereof, some over weight eggs being sold as extra large and someunderweight eggs being sold as peewees.

A primary object of my invention is the provision of a machine whichwill grade a continuous flow of eggs according to the weights thereof inan efficient and completely automatic manner. An important object of myinvention is to provide a grading machine which is of simpleconstruction and which may be operated economically.

In general, my grading machine includes a longitudinal main track havinga plurality of independent scales aligned therewith, each of which isadapted to remove from the track all eggs of a predetermined minimumweight, and includes a rotatable worm which is adapted to convey acontinuous stream of eggs along the track and over the scales, the axisof rotation of the worm being substantially parallel to and preferablybeing disposed directly above the main track. An important object of myinvention is the provision of a conveying worm which includes a spiralstrip having forward edge portions which engage the eggs to convey themalong the main track, a related object being to provide such a spiralconveyor strip wherein the width of the aforesaid edge portions thereofis considerably less than the diameters of the eggs conveyed thereby.This feature of the construction minimizes friction between the spiralconveyor strip and the eggs due to the presence of foreign matter andthereby minimizes any tendency of the conveyor strip to dislodge theeggs from the track The scales preferably include track sections whicharemounted' on pivoted balance-arms, and which are aligned with and arenormally at the level-or the main track,v each of the scales beingadapted: to. pivot to dump from the main track all eggs weighing morethan a predetermined minimum amount. Another important object of myinvention is the provision of scales wherein the track sections movevertically for a substantial distance without rotatingas thezbalancearms pivot, thus-v insuring accurate weighin of the eggssince-thetracksections mustbe depressed by the eggs for an appreciabledistance before rotating to dumpthe eggs. A related object is to-providescales wherein the movement of the track sections is'controlled-by cammeans in a manner such that the track sections move downwardly withoutrotatingfor. a substantial distance and then rotate very rapidly to dumpthe eggs after being depressed 2. predetermined-distance.-

The grading machine preferably includesalongitudinal feeder track whichis aligned with and slopes downwardly toward and joins the main track,and. includes gate means for feeding acontinuous stream of eggs fromthefeeder trackand onto the main track at predetermined and uniformlyspaced. intervals. The spiral. conveyor strip preferably extends alongthe inclined feeder track so that as the eggs roll down the feedertrack,. they engage rearward edge portions of the conveyor. strip beforerolling: onto the main track.

Thus, the conveyor strip controls the rate at whichthe eggs roll downthe feeder track, which is another object ofmy invention.

Still another important object of my invention is the. provision of aspiral conveyor strip having an inlet end which is curved inwardlytoward. the axis of rotation of the spiralstrip, the inlet end oftheconveyor strip being located above the feeder track adjacent thejunction thereof with the main track- This feature. of the constructionof my grading machine permits rearward edge portions of the inlet end ofthe spiral conveyor strip to engage any eggs on the sloping feeder tracknear or slightly above the centers thereof to minimize any tendency forthe spiral stripsto dislodge the eggs as they roll down the feeder trackand onto the main track.

Another object of my invention is the provision of stop means forpreventing the presence of more-than one egg on each scale at any onetime, the. stop means preferably comprising a flexible and resilientspiral baflle member which is preferably carried by the spiral conveyorstrip. This feature of the construction of my grading machine insuresthat one and only one egg will be disposed on each scale at any onetime, thereby insuring accurate and reliable weighing operations.

The foregoing objects and advantages of my invention, together withvarious other objects and advantages thereof which will be apparenthereinafter, may be realized by means of the exemplary embodiment whichwill be described in detail hereinafter and which is illustrated in theaccompanying drawing. Referring to the drawing, which is intended asillustrative only:

Fig. 1 is a plan view of a grading machine which embodies thefundamental principles of my invention;

Fig. 2 is a front elevational view thereof;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged, fragmentary sectional view which is taken alongthe broken line 3-3 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is an enlarged, fragmentary, end elevational view of cam meansfor controlling the'motion of scale means for weighing articles to begraded;

Fig. 5 is an enlarged, fragmentary, front elevational view of the cammeans shown in Fig. 4; and

Figs. 6 and 7 are enlarged, fragmentary, front elevational viewsillustrating the operation of a portion of the grading machine.

The general construction and operation of the grading machineillustrated in the accompanying drawing are similar to the constructionand operation of my prior grading machine which is the subject of myaforesaid co-pending application. Consequently, the present disclosureis primarily concerned with a detailed description of the improvementson my prior grading machine and is not concerned with a detaileddescription of the remainder of the construction of my present gradingmachine.

Referring particularly to Figs. 1 and 2, my present grading machineincludes a supporting base l having main track means or a main track Iand a feeder track means or a feeder track |2 mounted thereon, the maintrack including an inlet end I3 and a discharge end I4. The'gradingmachine includes a plurality of scale means I for removing from the maintrack all eggs or other articles weighing more than predeterminedminimum amounts, the eggs being conveyed along the main track and overthe scale means by worm conveyor means |6 which may be rotated bysuitable driving means H. In order to provide a continuous stream ofeggs at predetermined and uniformly spaced intervals, I employ means l8for feeding a sequence of eggs from the feeder track l2 onto the maintrack II, and in order to prevent the presence of more than one egg onany one of the scale means I5, I employ stop means comprising a spiralbafiie member l9 which is carried by the worm means As best shown inFig. 3, the main track I comprises a shallow pan or channel having apair of upwardly extending edges 20 which form tracks or rails for theeggs or other articles being graded, the eggs being rolled along therails with the longitudinal axes thereof extending transversely of therails as indicated by the egg 2|. The main track H, as best shown inFig. 2, in-

cludes a plurality of longitudinally aligned segments 22 which may bemounted on and secured to the base H) by suitable posts 23 or in anyother suitable manner. As will be apparent from Fig. 2, the main track His inclined upwardly from the inlet end l3 toward the discharge end I4so that the eggs being graded are held against the worm l6 by the actionof gravity. The feeder track I2 is of substantially the sameCI'OSS-SGC': tional configuration as the main track and islongitudinally aligned therewith, the feeder track being mounted on asloping block 24 which is mounted on the base 10 so that the feedertrack is inclined downwardly toward and registers with the inlet end l3of the main track. Thus, eggs or other articles which are placed on thefeeder track l2 may roll downwardly onto the main track As best shown inFigs. 1 and 2, the scale means l5 includes three identical scales 26,21, and 28 which may be adjusted to remove eggs weighing more thanprogressively smaller minimum amounts from the main track I I, thescales 26, 21, and 28 preferably being adjusted -to remove large,medium, and small eggs from the track, respectively. As best shown inFig. 3, the scale 26 includes a supporting bracket 33 which carries aknife edge 3|, a substantially Y-shaped balance arm 32, best shown inFig. 1, being balanced on the knife edge. A counterbalance member 33 isadjustably secured to the balance arm 32, rotation of the balance arm inthe clockwise direction, as viewed in Fig. 3, being limited by a stop34. A scale track 36 is pivotally connected to the balance arm 32 at apoint 31 which is preferably above the point at which the balance arm ispivoted on the knife edge 3|, the scale track being adapted to registerwith and being adapted for alignment with the track segment 22thereadjacent as best shown in Fig. 2. Track arms 38 are rigidly securedto and extend downwardly from the scale track 36, a guide roller or camfollower 39 being secured to the track arms. As best shown in Fig. 3,the track arms 38 are preferably inclined downwardly and rearwardly fromthe pivot point 3'! to the guide roller 39, th track arms being inclineddownwardly and to the right as viewed in Fig. 3. As best shown in Figs.4 and 5, the guide roller 39 is movable in a cam slot or guide slot 40in a guide member Al to provide cam or guide means for controlling themotion of the scale track 36, the guide member preferably includingflanges Ma and Mb interconnected by a base portion Me which is securedto the supporting base H) by screws or the like. Th guide slot 49includes a forwardly and downwardly inclined section 40a and arearwardly and downwardly inclined section 40b, the slot section 43abeing defined by cam surfaces 400 and 40d on the flanges Ma and Mb,respectively, in the particular construction illustrated, and the slotsection 4% being defined by cam surfaces 43c and 43 on the flanges Maand Mb, respectively. It will be apparent that the guide slot 40 may beformed in any suitable guide member and I do not intend to be limited tothe particular construction shown for the guide member 4 I.

As best shown in Figs. 3 and 4, the scale tracl: 36, track arms 38, andguide roller 39 will normally be in the positions shown in full linesuntil depressed by an egg of sufficient weight on the scale track. Whenan egg of sufficient weight is conveyed onto the scale track 36 by theworm l6 as will be described in detail hereinafter, the forwardly anddownwardly inclined section 10a of the guide slot 40 causes the guideroller 39 to move forwardly, as it moves downwardly, into the positionshown in phantom and indicated by the numeral 390. in Fig. 4. Theforward movement of the guide roller 39 is such that both rails 20 ofthe scale track 36 remain at the same elearea-r24 vation as the scaletrack moves downwardly-into the parallel position shown in phantom inFig. 3' and indicated by the numeral 360i.- The scale track 36 thusmoves vertically for a substantial distance before rotating to insureaccurate weighing of an egg thereon; particularly if the weight of theegg is close to the minimum wei'ght for which the counterbalance member33 is set. If the scale track 39 did not movevertica'lly withoutrotating, the center of gravity of the" egg would tend to shiftforwardly and away fromthe counterbalance member 33- as the scale trackrotated, thus increasing'th'e rotational moment due to the weight of theegg and causing the egg to be dumped after only a small rotation of thescale track. wardly inclined section All-a of the guide 5101; 40maintains the moment arm of theegg constant while the scale track 38moves downwardly'for a substantial distance, thus insurin more accurateweighing of the egg than if the scale tracl: began to rotate at theinstant it began to move downwardly.

After reaching the position indicated at 39a in Fig. 4, the guide roller39 enters the downwardly and rearwardly inclined section 4019 of theguide slot 40, the slot section 4% preferably, although not necessarily,being substantially horizontal. As the guide roller 38 moves from theposition shown in phantom at 3811 to the position shown in phantom at 3%at the rearward end of the slot section iiib, the scale track 36 rotatesvery rapidly about the pivot 32 into the position indicated at 38?) todump the egg from the scale track. Thus, the slot section illa preventsrotation of the scale track at until the egg thereon is accuratelyweighed, and, if the egg is sufficient- 1y heavy to cause the guideroller 39 to enter the slot section tab, the latter causes the scaletrack to rotate rapidly to dump the egg.

The scales 2'! and 28 are identical to the scale 26 and include scaletracks 42 and 43, respectively, which are normally aligned with andregister with the track segments 22 to complete the'main track II asbest shown in Fig. 2. As best shown in Fig. l, the counterbalance member33 of the scale 26, and identical counterbalance members 44 and 45 ofthe scales 2? and 28 are so positioned that the scales dump eggsweighing more than progressively smaller minimum amounts from the trackIt as more fully described in my aforesaid copending application.

Since the eggs are conveyed along the main track II with thelongitudinal axes thereof disposed transversely of the track, eggsdumped from the track ll by the scales 26, 21, and 28 land on end onaprons 46, t1, and 48, respectively. These eggs then roll end-over-enddown the aprons 46, 41, and 48 and into compartments 49, 50, and ill,respectively. Any eggs which are underweight, i. e., are too light to bedumped by the scale 28, are conveyed to the discharge end M of the trackII by the worm I6, and roll down an apron 53 into a compartment 54.

The Worm It includes a shaft 56 which is journaled in bearings 51 abovethe main track H and a portion of the feeder track 12, the bearingsbeing mounted on supporting brackets 58--which are secured to the baseIll. The worm l6 is rotated by the driving means H as best shown in Fig.1, the shaft EB'being driven by a motor 59 through a suitablespeed-reduction unit 60 and through a sleeve 6| of a suitable flexiblematerial. The worm [8 includes a spiral member 63 ofsubstantial diameterwhich is rigidly connect'edto Thus, the forwardly and dot/"11 6. and isspacedfrom the shafttfi byspokcs-tfii. the spiral member being disposediust above and ex tending along the main track" I'I"an'd a -porti'o'n'of the feeder track IZ. As'more' fully described my aforesaid cop'endingapplication, the spiral member 63 engages the eggs oroth'e'r'article'stoconvey them along the track ll from the inlet end l3 thereoftowardthe-discharge end l4 thereof as the shaft 56 is rotated in thedirection of the arrow 65 by the driving means ll.

One of the improvements incorporated i'n-my present invention resides inthe fact thatthe spiral member 63 isinthe form of a spiral'strip havinga-for'wa'rd edge portion 61' which engages the eg s or other articles tobe conveyed along the track I I. As best shown in Fig; 6, the width ofthe-edge portion 6'! isconsiderably less 'than the diameter of anarticlesuch as an egg: 19 which is engaged and conveyed along the trackll thereby. The use of therelatively narrow engaging surface providedbythe ed'ge portion 6-1 of thespiral member 63 minimizes frictionbetween the spiral'member and the eggs conveyed thereby due to thepresence of foreign matter. The use of the narrow edge portion 6! ratherthan a wideengaging surface has two main advantages in this connection:one main advantage being due to the fact that if dirtyeggs are beinggraded, such a wide engaging. surface would tend to guide any looseneddirt down to the eggspthus creating large frictional forces which wouldtend to dislodge the egg; and the other main advan tage being due to thefact that if the eggs are being graded at temperatures below the prevailing dew point, moisture condenses on the spiral member and would tend-torun down such a wide engaging surface to the eggs, thus creatingundesirable frictional forces. The use of the narrow edge portion 61tends to eliminate accumulations of dirt or moisture and thus minimizesany tendency of the spiral member 63 to dislodge the eggs. 7

Another important improvement incorporated in my present inventionresides in the fact that a portion of one of the convolutions formingthe spiral member 63 extends along a portion of the feeder track l2 andis of a smaller diameter than the remaining convolutions, thus providingthe spiral member with an inlet end segment 69 which is curved inwardlytoward the shaft 56, a best shown in Fig. 3. Thus, as best shown in Fig.6, as an article such as an egg 10 is released by the feeder means 18-and rolls down the inclined feeder track ill, the egg engages a rearwardedge portion ll of the inwardly-curved-in let end segment 69 at a pointwhich is preferably above thecenter of the egg. This constructionsubstantially eliminates any tendency of the spiral member 63 to knockthe egg it off the inclined track [2, a tendency'which-I have found toexist if the inlet end segment of the spiral member initially engagesthe egg at a point much below the center thereof. Asthe spiral member 63continues to rotate from the position shown in Fig. 6 to that shown inFig. 7, the egg (0 rolls down the feeder track I2 and. in so doing,engages rearward edge portions H of the spiral member 63 which are ofincreasingv diameter so that the point of engagement between the egg andthe spiral member remains substantially at the center of the egg. Thepoints of engagement between the eggs and the spiral member 63 maybelo'wered as the eggs are advanced alongthe track" I l,. nly the-initial points of engagement preferably being substantially at or abovethe centers of the eggs. Since the egg 10 engages the rearward edgeportions 'II of the spiral member 63, the latter serves to control thespeed at which the egg rolls down the feeder track, I2, which is afeature of my invention.

The feeder means I8 includes a pair of vertically movable horizontalgate members I2 and 13 which are actuated by cams I4 and I5,respectively, on the shaft 56. The cams I4 and I5 are adapted to liftthe gate members I2 and I3 to feed a sequence of eggs onto the inlet endI3 of the track II at predetermined and uniformly spaced intervals, asdescribed more completely in my aforesaid copending application. Theoperation of the feeder means I8 is so timedwith respect to the positionof the inlet end segment 69 of the spiral member 63 that only one egg isdisposed between each pair of adjacent convolutions of thespiral member.The timing of the operation of the feeder means I8 is also such as anegg 10 rolls down the feeder track I2 as best shown in Fig. 6, the eggengages the edge portion II of the inlet end segment 69 of the spiralmember 63, thereby insuring that the extreme end TI of the inlet endsegment does not engage and knock the egg off the track.

The baflie member I9 represents another improvement which isincorporated in my present invention, the bafiie member being adapted tokeep the egg 68 from rolling onto the scale 26, as best shown in Fig.'7, until an egg I9 already thereon has either been dumped by the scale,or has been moved along the track I I by the spiral member 63. Thebaflie member I9 is rigidly secured to the spiral member 63 and ispreferably of a spiral configuration so that as the free end I8 thereofdisengages the egg 68, the released egg rolls directly onto the scale26, the bafiie member preferably being formed of a flexible andresilient material such as spring wire or the like.

Prior to operating the grading machine, the positions of thecounterbalance members 33, 44, and 45, of the scales 26, 21, and 28 areadjusted so that these scales successively dump articles ofprogressively smaller minimum weights from the track II. Thus, if themachine is used for grading eggs, the counterbalance members 33, 44, and45 may be so adjusted that the scale 26 removes large eggs from thetrack II, the scale 27 removes medium eggs, and the scale 28 removessmall eggs. It will be apparent that the counterbalance members 33, 44,and 45 will all be positioned at different distances from the balancepoints of the respective scales somewhat as shown in Fig. 1.

In operation, the driving means I! rotates the worm means IS in thedirection of the arrow 65, the speed of rotation of the worm meanspreferably being relatively low. The eggs are placed on 6 the feedertrack I2 above the feeder means I8 with the longitudinal axes of theeggs oriented transversely of the track. As more fully described in myaforesaid copending application the gate members I2 and 13 of the feedermeans I8 00- operate to release a sequence of eggs at predeterminedintervals. As each egg is released by the feeder means I8, it rolls downthe track I2 and rests against the edge portion II of the inlet endsegment 69 of the spiral member 63 as indicated by the egg 10 of Fig. 6,the point of initial contact between the edge portion 'II and the eggbeing at or above the center of the egg because of the inward curvatureof the inlet end segment.

This construction substantially eliminates any 8 tendency of the inletend segment 69 to dislodge the egg I0.

As best shown in Fig. 7, the egg 68, which was released by the feedermeans I8 prior to the egg I0, is restrained by the baflie member I9 sothat the egg 68 does not roll onto the scale 26 until the previouslyreleased egg 19 which is already on the scale 26 is either dumped fromthe track II or is conveyed toward the discharge end thereof by thespiral member 63. When the free end I8 of the baffle member I9disengages the egg 68, the egg will then roll onto the scale 26 afterthe previous egg 19 has been removed therefrom.

The scale 26 will remove from the track I I only those eggs which weighmore than the minimum for large eggs, such large eggs being lowered asthe scale track 36 drops and then rotates about the pivot 31 aspreviously described. The action of the cam roller 39 in the cam slot 40prevents rotation of the scale track 36 until the scale track has beendepressed a substantial distance, thus insuring accurate weighing of theeggs. Since the eggs are disposed transversely of the track I I, theyland on end and roll end-over-end down the apron 46 and into thecompartment 49. As stated in my copending application, the fact that theeggs are dumped so that they land on end is important in view of thefact that the end portions of the shells of the eggs are considerablystronger than the sides thereof. This feature of my inventionsubstantially eliminates any possibility of breakage as the eggs aredumped from the track II. It will be apparent that the apron 46 andcompartment 49, together with the aprons 41, 48, and 53 and thecompartments 50, 5!, and 54, may be lined with a suitable material suchas felt or the like, if desired, to further reduce any possibility ofbreakage.

In the event that an egg is too light to be dumped by the scale 26, itis conveyed along the track II by the spiral member 63 toward thedischarge end I4 of the track. Thus, if an egg weighs less than theminimum weight for which the scale 26 is set but weighs more than theminimum weight fo which the scale 2'! is set, the egg will not be dumpedby the scale 26 but will be dumped by the scale 21, which is identicalto the scale 26 except for the relative positions of the counterbalancemembers 33 and 44. Similarly, if an egg weighs less than the minimumweight for the scale 21 but more than the minimum weight for the scale28, the egg will not be dumped by either the scale 26 or the scale 21,but will be dumped by the scale 28, which is also identical to the scale26 except for the position of the counterbalance member 45. Any eggsweighing less than the minimum for which the scale 28 is set will beconveyed to the discharge end of the track II by the spiral member 63and will roll down the apron 53 into the compartment 54.

In conveying the eggs along the track II from the inlet end I3 thereoftoward the discharge end I4, the spiral member 63 rubs lightly againstthe eggs substantially transversely of the track because of therelatively small angles between the convolutions of the spiral memberand perpendicular to the track as best shown in Fig. 1. This relativelylight rubbing action exerts a force component on the eggs in a directionparallel to the track which conveys the eggs gently along the track. Therelatively small angles between the convolutions of the spiral member 63and the track II, together with the relatively large diameter of theconvolutions as compared 9 to the diameter of the eggs, permits thespiral member to convey the eggs along .the track very ently withsubstantially no possibility :of breaka e.

The fact that the width of the edge portions '61 and H of the spiralmember .63 is considerably less than .the diameter of the eggs engaged-Although I have described the preferred em- 'bodiment of my inventionand have suggested a specific application thereof :to theart-of gradingeggs, it will be understood that my invention is not to be limited tograding eggs and that various changes, modifications, and substitutionsmay be incorporated in the preferred embodiment without departing fromthe spirit of the invention. I hereby reserve the right, therefore, tothe protection afforded by the full scope of my appended claims.

I claim as ,my invention:

1. In an ovoid conveying device, the combination of: track means havingan inlet end and a discharge end, said track means being adapted tosupport and guide an ovoid therealong; rotatable worm means mountedadjacent said track means and adapted to convey an ovoid along saidtrack means from said inlet end thereof toward said discharge endthereof, said worm means including a spiral strip of substantiallyrectangular cross section having sides which are substantially parallelto said track means and having edges which are substantiallyperpendicular thereto, the thickness of said strip being substantiallyless than the diameter of the ovoid; and means for rotating said wormmeans.

2. In an ovoid grading device, the combination of: track means having aninlet end and a discharge end, said track means being adapted to supportand guide an ovoid therealong; scale means aligned with said trackmeans, said scale means being adapted to remove from said track meansany ovoid weighing more than a predetermined amount; rotatable wormmeans mounted adjacent said track means and adapted to convey an ovoidalong said track means from said inlet end thereof toward said dischargeend thereof and over said scale means, said worm means including aspiral member having an inlet end portion adjacent said inlet end ofsaid track means, said inlet end portion of said spiral member beingspaced above said track means at its closest approach thereto a distanceat least equal to one-half the diameter of the ovoid, but less than thediameter of the ovoid, and the remaining portions of said spiral memberbeing spaced above said track means at their closest approaches theretodistances not greater than one-half the diameter of the ovoid; and meansfor rotating said worm means.

3. In an ovoid grading device, the combination of: track means having adownwardly sloping inlet end and a discharge end, said track means beingadapted to support and guide an ovoid therealong; scale means alignedwith said track means, said scale means being adapted to remove fromsaid track means any ovoid weighing more than a predetermined amount;rotatable worm it) means mounted adjacent said track means and adaptedto convey an ovoid alongsaid trackmeans from said inlet end thereoftoward said discharge end thereof and over said scale means; a helicalbaffle carried by and coaxial with said worm means, said helical.baflile extending toward said discharge end of said track means andbeing adapted to prevent the presence of more than .one ovoid on saidscale means at any one time;

and means for rotating said worm means.

.4. In an ovoid conveying .device, the combination of: track meanshaving a downwardly inclined inlet end portion and having a dischargeend portion, said track means being adapted to support and guide anovoidtherealong; rotatable worm means including a spiral member havingforward and rearward ovoid-engaging surfaces, said worm means furtherincluding a shaft and means connected to said spiral member in a zoneintermediate and spaced from said ovoid-engaging surfaces for connectinsaid spiral member to said shaft, whereby to render said ovoid-engagingsurfaces free from obstructions, said forward ovoid-engaging surfacebeing adapted to engage and convey an ovoid along said track meanstoward said discharge end portion thereof, and said rearwardovoid-engaging surface being adapted to control the rate at which anovoid rollsdown said inclined inlet end portion; and means for rotatingsaid worm means.

5. In an egg-weighing device, the combination of a balance arm pivotedon amain pivot point; anegg receiving track pivotally connected to saidbalance arm by a track pivot on one side of said main .pivot point; .acounterbalance member on said balance arm on the .other side of saidmain pivot point; and guide means forcontrolling rotation of said trackabout said track pivot point in response to rotation of said balance armabout said main pivot point so that said track moves vertically for asubstantial distance between parallel positions, said guide meansincluding a cam surface which is inclined downwardly and outwardly withrespect to said main pivot point, and including a cam follower which ismovable along said cam surface.

6. In an egg-weighing device, the combination of: a balance arm pivotedon a main pivot point; an egg receiving track pivotally connected tosaid balance arm by a track pivot on one side of said main pivot point;a counterbalance member on said balance arm on the other side of saidmain pivot point; a cam follower on said track; and a guide memberhaving a slot therein for said cam follower, said slot including aportion, which is inclined downwardly and outwardly relative to saidmain pivot point, said cam follower being adapted to move in saidoutwardly and downwardly inclined portion of said slot to cause saidtrack to move parallel to itself for a substantial distance.

'7. In a weighing device, the combination of: a balance arm pivoted on amain pivot; a scale platform pivotally connected to said balance arm onone side of said main pivot; a counterbalance member on said balance armon the other side of said main pivot; a platform arm depending from saidscale platform; and guide means for initially moving the lower end ofsaid platform arm outwardly away from said main pivot as said scaleplatform moves downwardly upon rotation of said balance arm about saidmain pivot and for subsequently moving the lower end of said platformarm inwardly.

8. In an ovoid conveying device, the combination of: track means adaptedto support and guide an ovoid and having a downwardly inclined inlet endportion; a rotatable worm positioned above and substantially parallel tosaid track means and adapted to convey the ovoid therealong, said wormhaving an inlet end portion which is positioned above said downwardlyinclined inlet end portion of said track means and which is of a smallerdiameter than the other portions of said worm, said inlet end portion ofsaid worm being of such diameter that is clears said track means by adistance which is equal to at least one-half the diameter of the ovoid,

but less than the diameter of the ovoid, and said other portions of saidworm being of such diameters that they clear said track means bydistances not greater than one-half of the diamete of the ovoid; andmeans for rotating said worm.

9. In an ovoid conveying device, the combination of: track means adaptedto support and guide an ovoid and having a downwardly inclined inlet endportion; a rotatable worm positioned above and substantially parallel tosaid track means and adapted to convey the ovoid therealong, said wormhaving an inlet end positioned above said downwardly inclined inlet endportion of said track means, and having forward and rearwardovoid-engaging surfaces, said forward ovoidengaging surface beingadapted to convey an ovoid along said track means away from said inletend portion thereof, and said rearward ovoid-engaging surface beingadapted to control the rate at which an ovoid rolls down said inclinedinlet end portion of said track means; means for feeding a sequence ofovoids onto said inclined inlet end portion of said track means, saidfeeding means including a gate which is movable to an open position tofeed an ovoid onto said inclined inlet end portion of said track means,and including a cam on said worm for moving said gate to said openposition, said inlet end of said worm leading said cam so that eachovoid is fed onto said inclined inlet end portion of said track meansafte said inlet end of said worm has passed the line of said trackmeans, whereby the ovoid rolls down said inclined inlet end portion intoengagement with said rearward ovoid-engaging surface; and means forrotating said worm.

JOSHUA A. HILL.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 64,886 Little May 21, 1867652,677 Kellington June 26, 1900 1,684,254 Bailey Sept. 11, 19281,694,675 White Dec. 11, 1928 1,866,005 Beaty July 5, 1932 2,078,503Meiser Apr. 27, 1937 2,112,259 Wyland Mar. 29, 1938 2,138,475 HiltonNov. 29, 1938 2,259,748 Hullhorst Oct. 21, 1941 2,355,715 Edington Aug.15, 1944 2,417,823 Hodson Mar. 25, 1947 2,442,689 Hill June 1, 1948FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 7,223 Great Britain Mar. 26, 1913335,951 Great Britain et. 6, 1930

